Alignment bed and folder



Aug. 26, 1969 H. BARON ET ALIGNMENT BED AND FOLDER Filed Sept. 30, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS.

HERSCHEL BARQN ARTHUR SCHWENK ATTORNEYS.

Aug. 26, 1969 BARON ETAL ALIGNMENT BED AND FOLDER 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. ISO. 1966 INVENTORS. HERSCHEL BARON ATTORNEYS.

ARTHUR SCHWENK Aug. 26, 1969 H, BARON ETAL ALIGNMENT BED AND FOLDER 6 Sheets-Shea t 5 Filed Sept. 30, 1966 on W o I om wv w: w: 4 om w: w: w: mm 3 mm O g -dm g o 3 mm mm RU mm mm w NW ATTO RN EYS;

Aug. 26, 1969 Filed Sept. 30, 1966 H. BARON ETAL I 3,463,482 ALIGNMENT BED AND FOLDER 6 SheetsSheet 4 m Q N) N o g Q I Q m g 3- S g o 2 N 9 i m y E 1. J E; 1 w

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0 LO [2 p- '2 00 J INVENT'ORS. HERSCHEL BARON ARTHUR SCHWENK av Com ATTORNEYS.

Aug. 26, 1969 H, BARON ET AL 3,463,482

ALIGNMENT BED AND FOLDER Filed Sept. 30, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 M 5 E 5 nwzmons.

HERSCHEL BARON BY ARTHUR SCHWENK Oawwv, Wl/r Co/U/n/ ATTORN EYS.

Aug. 26, 1969 H. BARON ET AL 3,463,482

ALIGNMENT BED AND FOLDER Filed Sept. 30, 1966 6 sheets sheet 6 t a I & Co

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,463,482 ALIGNMENT BED AND FOLDER Herschel Baron, Philadelphia, Pa., and Arthur Schwenk,

Gibbsboro, N.J., assignors to Jacobs Machine Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Sept. 30, 1966, Ser. No. 583,239 Int. Cl. B65h 45/22 US. Cl. 270-93 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An alignment bed for orienting and transporting a piece of freely disposed limp goods having a straight edge, the alignment bed having a supporting base and edge means extending from the base. Air means located below the base direct air blasts upwardly from the base and toward the limp goods with the base having openings to allow the air blasts to reach the goods, such that the air means direct air blasts in a desired direction against the lower surface of the goods to urge the edge of the goods against the leg while also transporting the goods. Where desired, the transport of the goods can be aided by a conveyor belt.

This invention relates to an alignment bed and folder and has as its objective the provision of apparatus composed of novel elements to achieve automation in the handling, orientation and continuous folding of individual plies of cloth.

The concept of an automatic sewing apparatus is disclosed and claimed in Jacobs Patent No. 3,223,059 and also in pending Jacobs et al. application Ser. No. 467,911, now abandoned. in both the Jacobs patent and Jacobs et al. application there is disclosed an automatic sewing apparatus which basically comprises a feeder station, a sewing station, a cutting station and a stacking station. Also, feeder foot means are utilized to present a tacky adhesive surface to a topmost ply of goods. The feeder foot means moves in a cycle such that it will first move downwardly so that the tacky adhesive surface contacts the upper surface of a topmost ply of goods. The feeder foot means will then move upwardly carrying a single ply of goods therewith, finally to kick forwardly. In the Jacobs et al. pending application, vacuum means. are turned on shortly after the feeder foot means has begun to lift in order to supplement the holding action of the tacky adhesive surface.

By virtue of the foregoing, the goods are picked oneby-one and given a forward momentum so they are fed into the nip of a pair of rollers to be carried forwardly. The net result of the "action of the feeder foot means is to deliver the plies of cloth one-by-one for further movement through the apparatus towards the sewing section. As it is usually desirable to present the goods to the sewing machine in a folded condition or as possessing a folded edge, in the Jacobs et al. pending application, it was proposed to fold over a longitudinal edge of goods by the appropriate application of air jets. This constituted a new approach in the handling and orientation of a piece of goods. The present invention basically comprises an improvement on the foregoing concept whereby the plies of goods are first oriented properly and then delivered to a continuous folder prior to delivery to the sewing section.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

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FIG. 1 is a partial schematic elevational view showing the various stations constituting an automatic sewing apparatus including an alignment bed and folder of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view taken along the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a corner of an air screen as indicated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view taken along the lines 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view taken along the lines 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view taken in the area indicated at 6 on FIG. 5 with certain portions shown in section;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan view taken along the lines 77 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view taken along the lines 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an end elevational view taken along the lines 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the lines 10-10 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary, partial plan view taken along the lines 11-11 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the lines 12-12 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 13-13 of FIG. 12; and

FIG. 14 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 14-14 of FIG. 12.

Referring now in greater detail to the various figures of the drawings wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, reference is made to FIG. 1 which shows a general layout of the automatic sewing apparatus that is disclosed and claimed in pending Jacobs et al. application Ser. No. 467,911, now abandoned. As shown in FIG. 1 the improved automatic sewing apparatus 10 basically comprises a feeder station 12 including the alignment bed 14 and folding section 16 of the present invention. FIG. 1 also shows sewing and cutting stations 18 and a stacking section 20.

As disclosed in both Jacobs Patent No. 3,223,059 and Jacobs et al. pending application Ser. No. 467,911, now abandoned, a feeder foot means 22 is provided which presents a tacky adhesive surface to the topmost ply of goods 26 on the platform 28. The feeder foot means 22 will first move downwardly so that the tacky adhesive surface contacts the upper surface of a topmost ply of goods. The feeder foot means 22 will then move upwardly carrying a single ply of goods therewith, finally to kick forwardly.

In this way the goods are picked up one-by-one and given a forward momentum so that they are fed into the nip of a pair of rollers. to be carried forwardly through the alignment bed 14 and folder 16 of the present invention and finally onward through and beyond the sewing station. In application Ser. No. 467,911 vacuum means are turned on after the feeder foot means have begun to lift. Otherwise, the operation of the feeder foot means 22 proceeds in an ever-repeating cycle in accordance with the control mechanism of the device. Following the operations at the sewing, cutting and stacking sections the workpieces are assembled in one or more piles 30.

Returning now to feeder foot means 22, the net result of the action of the feeder foot means 22 is to deliver the plies of cloth one-by-one to the alignment bed 14. After the plies of goods have traversed the alignment bed they are delivered by virtue of the action of the alignment bed precisely into the folder section 16 as will be described hereinafter. After the fold has been achieved the folded goods are delivered one-by-one to the sewing station where sewing operations, such as the making of button holes or the sewing of buttons may proceed.

The details of alignment bed 14 are generally shown in FIGS. 2 to 6 and the details of folder 16 are generally shown in FIGS. 7 to 14.

As shown in FIG. 2 the alignment bed 14 generally comprises conveyor belts 32 which will move the plies of goods one-by-one from left to right in the direction of arrow 34. The alignment bed 14 further comprises adjustable edge 36 (in the form of an angle piece), transparent shield 38 which cooperates with edge 36 and which is spaced therefrom, and air screen 40 which serves to uniformly distribute air jets 42 which emanate from air tubes 44.

As shown in FIG. 4 the alignment bed 14 is essentially mounted on table 46 with upper surface 48 and legs 50.

The belts 32 are endless in nature and extend about end rollers 52. The belts 32 are driven by motor 54 and associated speed reducer 56 which are connected through shaft 58 of a sprocket (not shown) to driving chain 60 (FIG. 2) which passes about another sprocket associated with the shaft 62 which extends from an end roller 52. Another chain 64 may also be simultaneously driven and connected to an upstream roller. The rotation thus imparted to one of the end rollers 52 is transmitted via the belts 32 themselves to the other end roller 52 which is in nature of an idler roller The adjustable edge 36 is best shown in FIG. 6 as including vertical leg 66 and horizontal leg 68. The adjustable edge 36 is mounted upon a pad 70 which is slidable along rod 72 that is held between posts 74 and 76.

A set screw (not shown) may extend through pad 70 to contact rod 72, and in this way the position of pad 70 on rod 72 may be held firm. As shown in FIG. the adjustable edge 36 with the pad 70 are situated upon an elevated bed 78 which is suspended from standards 80 via brackets 82. As shown in FIG. 2 two adjustable pads 70 with associated rods, etc. may be utilized.

By virtue of the operation of the adjustable pad 70, it is possible to establish the edge 36 in a desired position, preferably in a precisely aligned straight position so that the goods may be fed one-by-one to the folder to be described hereinafter.

Further details to be observed in FIG. 4 are an upper roller 84 at the downstream end of the alignment bed, with the upper roller 84 being spaced immediately above the idler roler 52. The roller 84 is supported by a resiliently mounted link 86 that is pivotally attached at 88 to a standard 90 which is held in place by a cross brace 92. The other end of the link 86 is held in place by means of adjustment screw 94 which extends into a special socket.

As best shown in FIG. 6 the shield 38 is spaced immediately above horizontal leg 68 of adjustable edge 36. The shield 38 extends along a longitudinal edge of the apparatus as can be seen in FIG. 2. The shield 38 is preferably transparent so that the alignment of an edge of the goods against adjustable edge 38 can be directly viewed. The shield 38 is secured against vertical section 66 of edge 36 by means of metal blocks 96 having slots 98.

As shown in FIG. 2 the blocks 96 are spaced along edge 36 at uniform intervals. As shown in FIG. 6, it is preferred that the blocks 96 be initially secured to translucent shield 38 by means of adhesive applied along common edges 100. It is then a simple matter to suspend the blocks 96 upon vertical leg 66 of edge 36 by permitting the upper region of the vertical leg 66 to be positioned within slot 98 as shown in FIG. 6. If desired, the actual penetration of the leg 66 into the slot 98 can be carefully controlled by limiting means, such as a set screw (not shown) passing from surface 102 through the block 96 actually to contact the leg 66. In this way a precise horizontal orientation of shield 38 can be obtained at a desired distance above the air screen 40.

With reference again to FIG. 6, it is seen that the air screen 40 is generally rectangular and has one longitudinal edge supported on horizontal legs 68 of edge 36 as 4 can be seen by comparing FIGS. 2 and 6. The other longitudinal edge of air screen 40 is supported on ledge 104 as shown in the upper part of FIG. 2. As further shown in FIG. 6 the belts 32 ride upon the upper surface of air screen 40 and after passing about an end roller travel beneath the air screen 40. As further shown in FIG. 6 the air screen 40 serves uniformly to disperse the air jets 42 which emanate from air tubes 44. This is done through openings 106 in the air screen 40 as best shown in FIG. 3.

However, it should be noted that the air jets 42 are not turned on until the leading edge of a piece of goods has passed beneath the light beam of photocell arrangement 108 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 of the drawing. The photocell arrangement 108 is secured upon bar 110 which is held by rods 112 that extend from standards 80. A suitable reflective surface may be positioned upon the air screen 40 or the air screen 40 may be constructed from a metal which is sufficiently reflective to avoid the need for a reflective surface. In any event the photocell arrangement 108, which is of known construction, is connected by suitable relays back to a solenoid actuated switch (not shown) which will become operative to open a valve associated with a compressed air supply (not shown). In this way the air jets 42 will not be turned on until the entire workpiece or a substantial portion thereof is located upon alignment bed 14. As shown in FIG. 6 the air jets 42 preferably are directed in an upward and inward direction toward shield 38. This has the effect of urging and maintaining the edge of a workpiece against adjustable edge 36 and more particularly against the vertical leg 66 thereof within the area between the shield 38 and the horizontal leg 66 as best seen in FIG. 6. When the air jets are turned on, the effect of the air jets 42 will be to align any portion of the piece of goods which is not positioned substantially against vertical leg 66. Thus as the workpiece passes into the folder section, one edge thereof will be precisely aligned against the adjustable edge 36. This will insure the correctness of the folding operation which will be described hereinafter.

The air jets 42 arise from spaced openings along the length of air tubes 44, and are produced by connecting air supply hoses 114 (FIG. 4) to headers 116, with the other end of hoses 114 being connected to a uitable compressed air supply. The individual air tubes 44 may be directly connected to the header 116 at spaced portions thereof and adjustable valves 118 may be provided. Also, a master valve (not shown) may be connected into the supply hoses 114, to be actuated by the solenoid means associated with the photocell arrangement 108. As also shown in FIG. 4 the air tubes 44 are given horizontal support by structural members 120 which also add support to the air screen 40.

It is thus seen that the conveyor belts 32 deliver the workpieces one-by-one onto the alignment bed 14. The conveyor belts 32 move the workpieces one-by-one along the upper surface of the alignment bed, with a longitudinal edge of the workpiece being generally delivered within the confines of horizontal leg 68 of adjustable edge 36 and shield 38. Since the latter shield is transparent, it is possible for the operator to view whether the delivery of the workpieces is proceeding in a generally satisfactory manner. When a workpiece passes beneath the photocell arrangement 108, air jets 42 are turned on so as to pass through air screen 40 which serves to uniformly distribute the air jets 42. The generally upward and inward direction of the air jets 42 serves to urge and maintain the longitudinal edge of the goods against vertical leg 66 of the adjustable edge 36. Hence when the workpiece leaves alignment bed 14 its longitudinal edge is precisely aligned against the vertical leg 66 of the adjustable edge 36.

The folding section 16 is illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 14, inclusive, of the drawings. As shown in FIG. 7 the folding section 16 basically comprises conveyor belts 122 which in conjunction with upper drive belts 124 moves the plies of goods one-by-one from left to right as they are delivered with their longitudinal edge precisely aligned from alignment bed 14. The folder section 16 further comprises the folder 126 and air delivery tube 128- as will be discussed in greater detail hereinafter.

As shown in FIG. 8 the folder section 16 is essentially mounted upon a table 130 having an upper surface as well as supporting legs 132. The belts 122 pass about the upper surface and then continue around one of the end rollers 134. Then the belts 122 pass beneath the upper surface and then wind about the other end roller 134 and thereby return to the upper surface. It is thus seen that the belts 122 are endless in nature. The belts 122 may be driven in the manner of belts 32, and for this reason a chain 136 (FIG. 7) is shown passing about a sprocket that is associated with an end roller 134. If desired, the drive for both of the end rollers 134 may be taken from the motor 136 (FIG. 8).

As further shown in FIG. 8 the legs 13 2 extend for some distance above the belts 122 to provide support for cross rods 138 (FIG. 7). The cross rods 138 in turn support upper drive belt bracket 140, between which the upper drive belts 124 extend. It is to be noted that two upper drive belts 124 are shown in FIG. 7, although the number of upper drive belts required in a particular situation will necessarily vary. While the present invention does not absolutely require the presence of upper drive belts 124, it has been found that these belts are helpful in promoting the passage of the goods through the folder 126.

The driving connection for the upper drive belts 124 is illustrated generally in FIG. 9 as including a flexible driving cable 142 which passes down to a source of power (not shown) and which is connected to the upper drive belt 124 by means of a drive sprocket generally shown at 144 that is held in bracket 146 and in turn sup ported upon the cross rod 138.

As further shown in FIG. 9 the supports 132 are anchored upon table 148 which also serves to support the motor 136. As further shown in FIG. 9 an upper end roller 150 is positioned immediately above one of the end rollers 134 to enhance the folding action as well as the passage of the folded goods toward the sewing station. The ends of rollers 134 are secured in horizontal angle pieces 152 which extend along the sides of the machine with the ends of roller 150 being supported in brackets 154.

The air tube 128 extends between rods 156 that are held by cross bar 158 and in turn fastened to supports 160 which are held on the side of the machine. Support clips 162 are provided on the cross rods 56 in order to hold the air tube 128. The clips 162 are also attached to a link 164 extending between the rods 156. Compressed air supply hose 164 is connected to the air tube 128 as shown in FIG. 7. Air jets 166 emerge from spaced openings along the length of the air tube 128. It is preferred that the openings be so positioned that the air jets face downwardly in order to enhance the action of folder 126 as will be discussed hereinafter.

As further shown in FIG. 7 a cover 168 is provided immediately next to the folder 126, and a flat surface 170 is situated immediately upstream of the folder 126. As the aligned goods arrive one-by-one from alignment bed 114 they immediately pass upon the surface 170 on their way to folder 126. The surface 170 has a downwardly bent corner 172 in order to enhance the introduction of the goods into continuous folder 126.

The internal configuration of folder 126 is best understood from FIGS. l2, l3 and 14 with the piece of goods 26 receiving the double fold as indicated in FIG. 14. Of course, it is contemplated that folders achieving other shapes or numbers of folds will readily occur to one skilled in the art. With the present invention, however, it is preferred that the folder 126 be made from resin impregnated glass fiber mat. This material not only provides a smoothness of surface which enhances the action of the folder, but it also lends itself to the production of a large number of identically shaped folders, since a single form may be used many times.

The precise action of the folder 126 will be described hereinafter, but before doing this, it should be noted that the action of the folder 126 is enhanced by the action of rotary brush 174 (FIG. 12).

The rotary brush 174 is driven through connection to the motor 136 as best illustrated in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10. The motor 136 drives chain 176 through an appropriate shaft and sprocket, and the chain 176 in turn drives the shaft 178 that is rotatably supported on the members 132. The rotation thusly imparted through the shaft 178 is conveyed through a chain 180 which also passes about a sprocket connection to shaft 18-2 which extends between the arms 184 of yoke 186.

The rotation thereby imparted to the shaft 182 is conveyed through chain 188 to the shaft 190 to which the rotary brush 174 is attached. The yoke 186 is in turn attached or supported upon a convenient portion of the overall apparatus at connection 192. If desired another sprocket may be attached to the shaft 178 having a chain connected to one of the end rollers should this method of imparting rotation to the end rollers be desired.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the rotary brush 174 will be continuously driven since the operation of the folder 126 is essentially continuous. If desired a plastic shield (not shown) similar to shield 38 in the alignment bed 14 may be positioned either between the upper drive belts 124 or between an upper drive belt 124 and the folder 126 in such a way as not to hinder the action of the air jets 166.

As the plies of goods 26 pass one-by-one upon the surface 17 0, the leading corner thereof will tend to drape downwardly with the downward configuration of corner 172 as the folder 126 is entered. With continued forward progress the longitudinal edge of the goods is gradually curled in the direction of the arrow 194 of FIG. 13 or 196 of FIG. 14. As shown from a study of FIGS. 12, 13 and 14 the folder 126 includes at its upstream end a core 198 about which the aforesaid curling action starts. As the folder is traversed in the downstream direction the core 198 grows wider and wider as indicated in sections 200 and 202 of FIG. 14. Thus the curled longitudinal edge of goods 26 is extended to produce folded portion 204 and folded corners 206 and 2081. Finally the core 198 tends to double upon itself in that edge 202 actually comes back in edge 210 with a lap 212 and return edge 214 which returns in side 216 to bottom leg 218. At about this time a rotary brush 174 becomes operative through the window 220 in order to provide an additional pull upon the piece of goods to bring the goods to the spaced rollers 134 and 150 which complete the pulling action and also deliver the folded goods into the sewing area.

It is also to be seen that the bottom leg 218 was initially rounded as indicated in FIG. 13, but gradually flattens out until the delivery end thereof as shown in FIG. 14. Furthermore, the folder 126 includes a flat surface 222 for supporting the remainder of the goods 26. It is thus seen that the goods in moving from left to right as viewed in FIG. 11 undergo a. continuous clockwise double folding action as viewed looking towards the downstream direction in the manner of arrow 194 of FIG. 13. It is further to be stressed that the action folder 126 is continuous, and therefore compatible with the automatic nature of the overall apparatus. The initial folding action is enhanced by operation of air tube 128 which directs jets of air downwardly into the folder 126 in the manner of FIG. 8 in order to initiate the curling or turning end of the leading corner of the goods 26 in the direction of arrow 194.

It is thus seen that the goods 26 should be precisely aligned upon entry to the folding section 16. This is accomplished in alignment bed 14 such that when a workpiece 26 leaves alignment bed 14 its longitudinal edge is precisely aligned against the vertical leg 66 of the adjustable edge 36. The plies of goods 26 now pass one-byone upon surface 170 in the folding section. The air jets emanating from tube 128 enhance the curling or downward draping of the leading corner of the goods as the folder 126 is entered. With continued forward progress the entire longitudinal edge of the goods is curled in the folding section 16 in the direction of arrow 194 of FIG. 13 or 196 of FIG. 14. In an embodiment of this invention the goods undergo a continuous clockwise double folding action in order to achieve the result shown in FIG. 14.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully illustrate my invention, that others may, by applying current or future knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under various conditions of service.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. An alignment bed for orienting a relatively straight edge of a piece of freely disposed limp goods while transporting said goods, said bed including a supporting base for said goods, edge means extending from said base and including a generally vertical leg against which said edge of said goods is aligned, and air means located below said base directing air upwardly from said base and toward said bed, said base having openings to allow air blasts to reach said goods, said air means directing air blasts through said openings against the lower surface of said goods to urge said edge of said goods against said leg while transporting said goods along said leg.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said air means includes at least one air 'tube having spaced openings arranged to direct air jets in a direction toward said vertical leg, and means to supply compressed air to said air tubes.

3. The invention of claim 2 including conveyor belt means operative above said base to move said goods in conjunction with said air means.

4. The invention of claims 3 including switch means to operate said air means adapted to be actuated by a leading edge of said goods, with said switch means being positioned to allow at least a substantial portion of said goods to be positioned on said alignment bed before said air means are actuated.

5. The invention of claim 4 wherein said switch means include photosensitive means.

6. The invention of claim 1 including a horizontal shield extending from said vertical leg and above said belt means.

7. The invention of claim 6 wherein said shield is transparent.

8. The invention of claim 7 wherein said shield is suspended from said vertical leg.

9. The invention of claim 1 wherein said edge means is adjustable in order to attain a precisely aligned straight position.

10. The invention of claim 1 and further including a folding section to which delivery oriented goods are subsequently conveyed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 639,413 12/1899 Loeb 270-93 2,177,262 10/1939 Neckel 27066 2,514,737 7/1950 Anderson 270 3,204,591 9/ 1965 Pickett 112-2 3,262,409 7/ 1966 Tucci 112-147 FOREIGN PATENTS 468,077 11/1928 Germany.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner PAUL V. WILLIAMS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

